14 DAY TRIAL // A few years back, in 2011, a team of Texas State University underwater archaeologists came across a mysterious shipwreck in the waters off the Caribbean coast of Panama, not far from the mouth of the Chagres River.
They've been exploring it ever since, and in a report published earlier this week, they identify it as a Spanish merchant ship by the name of Nuestra Señora de Encarnación.
The ship is very well preserved, the team says
The Texas State University researchers who discovered the shipwreck claim that, although resting at a depth of merely 40 feet (12 meters) and, therefore, being quite easy to reach, the Spanish merchant vessel is remarkably well preserved.
The bottom half of its hull is buried in the seafloor and appears to be virtually intact. As for its cargo, it looks like it has somehow escaped looting, the researchers say.
As detailed by underwater archaeologist Frederick Hanselmann, the shipwreck, dating back to the 17th century, still hides a cohort of artifacts, some of them quite valuable.
Sword blades, scissors, ceramics and lead seals are among the artifacts resting on the sea floor together with the remains of the Nuestra Señora de Encarnación since 1681, when the ship sank during a storm.
“This truly is an exciting and intriguing shipwreck. The site basically consists of the entire lower portion of the ship’s hull and cargo in the hold, which includes a wide variety of artifacts,” Frederik Hanselmann said in an interview.
The shipwreck was discovered quite by chance
True, researcher Frederik Hanselmann and his team didn't dive in the water of the Caribbean side of Panama just for fun. Still, the fact of the matter is that they were not looking for this ship in particular.
Rather, they were on a quest to find the remains of ships belonging to pirate Captain Henry Morgan, who once led a fleet of 36 vessels. Hence their surprise when they found the Spanish merchant ship Nuestra Señora de Encarnación instead.
The researchers plan to return to the region in search of Captain Henry Morgan's ships and are quite excited at the thought that they might stumble upon yet another shipwreck.
